Brief Description Of The Prior Art
One class of widely used fishing lures is referred to as a jig. Jig-type fishing lures generally have a solid jig head which is often constructed of lead or other heavy metal. A hook projects in some geometry from this head, and is frequently disguised with a flexible skirt or bucktail which surrounds and hides or disguises the hook. A flexible retrieving line is connected to the jig head by an eye which extends into, and is carried by, the jig head. The flexible retrieving line is used for causing the jig to move through the water with a motion imparted to the jig by the fisherman via the flexible retrieving line, and also as a result of the particular geometry which characterizes the lure.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,378, a jig-type fishing lure is described. The lure includes a jig head which carries at one side thereof, an eye for attaching the jig head to a flexible retrieving line which extends to the rod of the fisherman. A substantially planar one-barb hook which has a shank projecting rearwardly from the jig head of the fishing lure has a part of the hook shank embedded in the jig head. In this particular type of jig, guide arms are secured to the jig head and function to engage the floor of the mouth of the fish after the fish has struck the lure, so that the hook inside the mouth of the fish is caused to rotate to a position where it can be more easily set to impale the roof of the mouth of the fish. A bucktail or skirt is provided which is secured around a portion of the jig head and extends rearwardly to disguise the hook by having a number of fronds which surround and obscure the hook. On the bottom side of the jig head, a pair of flat camming surfaces are formed and lie generally symmetrically with respect to a rib or ridge formed at the center of the bottom side of the hook where the two flat camming surfaces intersect each other on the jig head.
Another jig-type fishing lure is that which is disclosed and described in Devereaux and Craig U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,751,789 and 4,920,688. The Devereaux et al patent also includes a jig head molded from a heavy metal, such as lead, with a hook shank carrying a barb projecting from the jig head. A skirt is provided for obscuring or hiding the hook, and an eye for tying a retrieving line to the jig is provided on one side of the jig head.
Yet another fish bait which must be considered to be a jig-type lure is that which is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,377 to Morris. This lure has a molded lead jig head which is positioned in the nose cavity of a soft plastic shad-type body. A hook extends rearwardly from the jig head with the barb thereof projecting to the outside of the soft plastic shad-type body. A connecting eye is provided at the forward side of the jig head where it projects slightly from the cavity in the soft plastic shad-type body and serves as an anchor point for the flexible retrieving line which extends to the rod of the fisherman.
Many other types of jigs have been heretofore proposed and have had varying success in their fish-catching ability.